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Can BPD feel like multiple personalities?
Due to it being a personality disorder, BPD is often confused with someone having dissociative identity disorder, where people develop multiple personalities. Dissociative identity disorder was previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), sometimes incorrectly called split personality, it is characterized by the presence of more than one sense of identity within a single human body. These alternate identities are commonly known as alters or dissociated parts. There is evidence that borderline personality disorder (BPD) commonly co-occurs with DID and can worsen its course. The authors report three cases of DID with co-occurring BPD that we successfully treated with a manual-based treatment, Dynamic Deconstructive Psychotherapy (DDP). Are people with dissociative identity disorder often misdiagnosed? Yes. They are sometimes misdiagnosed as having schizophrenia, because their belief that they have different identities could be interpreted as a delusion. They sometimes experience dissociated identities as auditory hallucinations (hearing voices). Studies have found that there are clear links between BPD and memory loss. One such study determined that BPD patients displayed enhanced instances of memory loss in response to the presentation of negative emotions. 1 This is thought to occur because of other severe dissociative symptoms that sufferers experience.
Can BPD cause dissociative identity disorder?
Up to 80% of patients with BPD report transient dissociative symptoms, such as derealization, depersonalization, numbing, and analgesia [1, 50]. With regard to the dissociative experiences endorsed, almost all patients reported identity confusion, unexplained mood changes, and depersonalization. Even those BPD patients with mild DD reported derealization, depersonalization, and dissociative amnesia. Splitting is a common behavior among people with borderline personality disorder (BPD). It means that a person has difficulty accurately assessing another individual or situation. Instead, they see something as completely good or completely bad, and their assessment may switch back and forth rapidly. Doctors diagnose dissociative disorders based on a review of symptoms and personal history. A doctor may perform tests to rule out physical conditions that can cause symptoms such as memory loss and a sense of unreality (for example, head injury, brain lesions or tumors, sleep deprivation or intoxication).